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    • CommentAuthorpapercut
    • CommentTimeAug 16th 2007
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    Hi everyone,
    I'm planning a shoot for early June funded by Raw Nerve and because we have the equipment hire credit from FTI, we will most probably be using the Sony HVR-Z1P HDV camera.
    It's a 1080 INTERLACED-frame camera but claims it can emulate a 24/25 PROGRESSIVE-frame "film-like" image using an in-camera effect called Cineframe. So its not true 1080p, but apparently can mimic it.
    I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with this camera and can tell me what the 25fps Cineframe is like... I've heard serveral reports including that it makes an annoying strobbing effect when panning and that the image quality is halved because it doubles half of the resolution (making it not even HD anymore really).
    I really want my film to have a professional progressive film-like look in high-definition. If the HVR-Z1P camera can't do decent progressive HD i'll be looking into doing progressive SD. Interlaced video is so ugly!

    • CommentAuthorpapercut
    • CommentTimeAug 16th 2007
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    admin

    This camera like some other HDV cams has a 24P or 25P emulation. It looks okay but you do lose some vertical resolution as half the interlace lines are removed.
    For practical purposes it may not matter but there seems to be a preference by some to shoot interlace and de-interlance in post where the process can be undone if it looks crook.

    The strobing effect you refer to is affected by several factors. The selected shutter speed probably the most significant.

    If you want the motion signature of film then you need to go close to the film cam shutter speed of 1/50th sec or thereabouts.

    As with motion film itself, there are limitations as to how much movement you can accommodate across your image before the strobing effect, also referred to as judder becomes an unpleasant distraction in the image.
    There are means of dealing with this. One such is setting up the shot so that during a fast following pan on a subject or tracking like from a camera car, the background is very much out of focus so the judder is not as apparent.

    1/3" video cameras have a narrow field of view and a very deep depth-of-field which makes it difficult to throw a background out of focus unless you set up well away from the subject and zoom in long.

    There are 35mm adaptors which go on front which cause the camera to "see" the subject as if it being imaged by a 35mm motion picture camera.

    The are some budget ones around but these are not always something you can rely upon consistently.

    There is a Mini35 for rental in Perth, owned by Steve Rice who trades as Darling Films. This is available only for JVC HD100 and similar or the Canon XL camera family. As a high-value piece of gear, you likely will find Steve has to come with it as it is not something you cam just go ahead and shoot with out of the box. The JVC HD100 is a true progrsssive 24P or 25P camera. If true progressive is what you are after, then this cam might be a better choice. Bear in mind that capture and editing options might not be so readily available.
    With HDV, keyframes are about a half second apart. If a momentary dropout happens on the tape, about a halfsecond passes before motion starts again. HDV also cannot be satisfactorily edited unless an intermediate codec is used to get around this half-second limitation. One which seems most popular and effective is Cineform's Aspect HD which works as a standalone capture or integrates with Adobe Premiere and Vegas. this stuff you may already know so my apologies if I am putting up too much wordstuff.